In the bakery area, continual efforts are directed towards producing appetizing products which must be pleasing to both the eye and to the palate. Bakers have historically been plagued by the desiccation of baked goods and by the deterioration of the organoleptic properties, including appearance, flavor, and texture resulting therefrom.
This deterioration in texture, appearance and taste of baked goods is believed to be due in part to moisture migrating from the product's high moisture content area to an area with reduced moisture, either into the atmosphere or another portion of the baked good such as into the icing, if present, on the baked good. This moisture migration results in a dried baked good and/or a wetter glaze or icing on the baked good, if present. In any event, as a result thereof, the appearance, taste and texture is unsuitable to the consumer and thus, the moisture migration ultimately results in a shorter shelf-life of the baked good.
Bakers have been aware of this problem for years, but have not found a satisfactory solution thereto. For example, they attempted to solve this problem by coating baked goods with a sealant to increase the water retention thereof. Early attempts to solve this problem included the addition of fats and waxes and simple syrups to the baked good. Although fats and waxes worked well as sealants, they created an undesirable mouth feel and appearance to the product. In addition, if the baked goods contained icing and glazing, these fats and waxes were unsuitable because the glazes or icings did not readily adhere to the slick surface thereof.
Syrups also proved to be unsatisfactory as sealants. Early recipes for those syrups included those in which sugar, water and corn syrup were combined. But, these proved to be marginally effective. They did not prevent moisture migration over prolonged shelf life nor did they sufficiently prevent moisture migration from products with high water activity.
Therefore, there is still a need in the baked goods area for a component which not only overcomes shortcomings of the prior art, but also reduces moisture migration, extends the shelf-life and does not produce a product with an undesirable appearance, taste or texture. The present inventors have found such a component. More specifically, they have found that the addition of betaine to the baked goods provides a product which not only retards the moisture migration but at the same time improves the organoleptic properties thereof.
Betaine (or trimethylglycine; molecular weight 117.15) is not a new compound. It is a natural product found in sugar beets. In fact, together with L-glutamine, betaine forms the major component of nitrogen compounds in sugar beets that are soluble in water. These compounds have been known for more than a hundred years; in 1866, for example, betaine was isolated from concentrated juices of Beta vulgaris (sugar beet).
Until 1960, betaine was used mainly as a pharmaceutical preparation for the stimulation of hydrochloric acid secretion in the stomach. Since then, it has been discovered that addition of betaine to animal feeds highly stimulates the weight increase of animals because it enhances the rate of methionine synthesis; betaine donates a methyl group to homocysteine by which methionine is formed (for an optimal increase of animal weight it is important that, besides betaine, the feed contains the right amounts of methionine, homocysteine and cysteine).
In addition, natural betaine, 1-carboxy-N,N,N-trimethyl methaminium hydroxide, plays an important role in life maintaining processes in nature. Various micro-organisms depend upon betaine for their survival. Betaine is important for the control of respiration, osmoregulation and nitrogen fixation of several useful bacteria. The function of useful microbes in soil that fix atmospheric nitrogen necessary for plants to grow is stimulated by betaine.
It has been found that betaine does not possess any skin-irritating properties when used in cosmetics, improves the skin compatibility thereof and has moisturizing properties. Betaine has beneficial effects in toothpaste; it appears that betaine not only reduces the skin-irritating effects of toothpaste components, but also is useful for relieving the symptoms in patients with dry mouth. See, Soderling, et al. ACTA ODONTOL SCAND 1998, 56, 65-69.
In the mammalian body, betaine is known to have a vitamin resembling function. Its mechanism of action is closely related to that of Folic Acid and Vitamin B.sub.12. Betaine is present in vital organs such as the liver, kidney, testes, spleen, pancreas and heart. Betaine is often times referred to as a lipotropic factor since it reduces the risk for fatty liver. Its biochemical derivative in the liver, dimethyl glycine, is known to enhance immune response. Moreover, betaine appears to have a key role in protecting kidney cells against highly osmotic urine.
In the food industry, betaine has been mainly used as a food preservative or as a dietary supplement in citrus juices as well as rehydration drinks.
However, betaine has recently been found to have a synergistic effect with L-ascorbic acid in the manufacture of bread. See Japanese Kokou No. 59-30057 ("JP '057"). Specifically, JP '057 discloses a bread making process wherein a dough conditioner consisting of 10-500 ppm L-ascorbic acid (an anti-oxidant) and 20-200 ppm glycine betaine is employed. JP '057 indicates that improvement in bread making can be obtained only when L-ascorbic acid and glycine betaine are used together. It shows that there is a critical relationship between the glycine betaine and ascorbic acid. That is, the ratio of glycine betaine and ascorbic acid must be present within a critical range. Otherwise the alleged benefits are not realized. Thus, JP '057 does not recognize any advantages of utilizing betaine without the presence of ascorbic acid. It should also be noticed that in JP '057 betaine and ascorbic acid are added to the bread in very low amounts, in parts per million. JP '057 discloses that the amount of betaine glycine present in the bread formulation ranges from 20-200 ppm. It does not disclose any bread formulation containing amounts greater than 200 ppm of betaine. Thus, JP '057 is very limited in its teaching; it requires ascorbic acid to be present simultaneously therewith and there is a critical range of betaine to ascorbic acid for the synergism to be manifested. Moreover, JP '057 does not disclose or teach adding larger amounts of betaine glycine to the bread product, or the effects thereof.
However, the present inventors have found that the addition of betaine in larger amounts than in JP '057 imparted several desirable characteristics to the baked goods. It prolongs moisture retention and the shelf-life, as discussed hereinabove. It also improves the mouthful and appearance of the baked good. In addition, it also has other unexpected advantages. It enhances flavor to the baked goods so that less salt is required; it lowers water activity; prevents syneresis; and facilitates batter and dough processing. It also improves the organoleptic properties of the baked good. The inventors have found that this one component accomplishes objectives served by the combination of other components normally added to foods, namely emulsifiers, gums, enzymes, especially amylases, fibers and fruit. These advantages have not been realized heretofore by the use of only one component.
Japanese Patent 59-30056 ("JP '056") discloses a method for preparing a wheat paste or batter from wheat flour or flour comprised primarily of wheat flour, by adding betaine thereto and stirring the resulting mixture. However, the teachings therein relate to fried foods. According to JP '056, betaine is added to suppress the gluten formed therein. The teachings therein are specific for those fried foods. They do not relate to baked goods, especially those in which wheat flour is an ingredient, since, the objective is to increase, not decrease, gluten formation. Moreover, JP '056 does not consider the interaction between the various components of the foods, including the fat and betaine, which latter interaction is critical in controlling various characteristics of the baked good, including the viscosity of the batter or paste. However, the present inventors have realized that there is a critical ratio of fat to betaine that is important in imparting the improved qualities thereto.